McDonald’s is pondering whether it should delve deeper into the plant-based meat alternative segment, reports MediaPost.
According to the company’s president and CEO, Steve Easterbrook, who was cited by the report, investment in fresh beef is paying off, as the company continues to grow burger share.
In this context, at the end of last month, McDonald’s launched a 12-week test of a plant-based burger in 28 restaurants in Ontario. And while the learnings from Canada will help to inform whatever McDonald’s decides to do elsewhere, it seems clear a U.S. launch isn’t around the corner, writes the report.
Easterbrook notes the company is interested in how best to position these options, while getting a sense of the flexitarian customer.
“We want to get the taste right. We want to make the marketing right. We want to get the operations right,” Easterbrook reveals.
However, Innova Market Insights says it’s hard to see how McDonald’s can sit the plant-based trend out. At this point, it’s too early to tell how successful plant-based options may be in fast-food, but chains are feeling the pressure to at least offer the option to consumers, so they can decide for themselves.
A plant-based offering would not be the first time McDonald’s tries to appeal to the appetites of non-meat eaters. In the early 1990s, the company debuted the McLean Deluxe, in which a seaweed extract was combined with beef. It lasted roughly a decade.